Winemaking Week

It's winemaking time again. And after the arrival of 4 pales of more or less native NY varieties, the show is on the road.  Delaware, Concord, Niagra and Cataba are getting chewed up by just two different varieties of yeast, the voracious Lalvin's EC-1118 for the Niagra and Delaware, and the classic Red Star Montrache for Concord and the Cataba juice.

I put up 4 gallons in carboys, and a side gallon for tasting, experiments with adjuncts (berries, fruit and herbs) and yeast insurance.  Last year, it was dandelion and Lemon Balm, largely because they grew like a weeds and took over the garden and greenhouse, and there was the hibiscus, largely because it was a bargain on Amazon.  Both worked well, adding a little something extra in terms of flavor in the bottle.

What didn't work as well was the oak I used to flavor the concord.  It was stronger than expected, so there's a word to the wise when adding oak in the aging, more can be less. 

This photo is last year's Concord, but I've got a good bunch of photos from this year's Operation Jug Wine, which I'll try to post when I get the hand of the Blogger functions.